EDUCATION SECTOR NEEDS A MAKEOVER

Sir,

Who decides what fees are to be paid by parents for their children attending government schools in urban and rural areas?

It appears that school fees in urban areas are much higher than in rural areas yet the syllabus is the same. All students in Grade 7, Form III and Form V sit and write the same exam in all government schools.
So what determines the higher school fees in urban schools? How is the vast difference justified?

I wouldn’t like to believe that teachers in urban schools are more qualified than teachers in rural schools, or are paid more.
Surely, a certain level of education is required by all teachers to enter the teaching profession and all salaries are paid as per the government salary grade across the board.

Pumped

I think there is just too much money being pumped in to schools under the guise of school fees.
It seems the people tasked to handle these funds get tempted to misuse these funds and we read all about them in the newspapers on a regular basis.
By the time they’re caught, they’ve built a mansion and are driving the latest double cabs. I think the Ministry of Education is failing the parents as far as the school fees they pay are managed. 

Some serious inspection of the school accounts needs to be carried out on a regular basis to curb this scourge of mismanaged school fees.
Parents living in urban areas have so many other expenses to contend with such as daily transport for themselves and their children, rent, electricity, water, food and so on which really squeezes the family budget with some even resorting to visiting shylocks just to make ends meet.

Some can’t afford these school fees and their child has to drop out of school or try to find employment of some sort to take care of themselves, or the child just resorts to criminal activities.

Fund

Why is part of the school fees for a building fund where in some schools there is just no more land to extend the school.
If it’s toward maintenance then it should be used accordingly. You drive all over Swaziland and you will see schools with broken windows and school that look very shabby and you wonder what the building fund monies were used on.
I think if the ministry really cared, it would inspect schools and stress that it wants to see improvements at the next inspection of schools.

Sengidziniwe Sibandze

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